Today  Thesis Building  Starting Your Outline What’s due Tuesday night?  Continue R&J ( )  HOMEWORK WORK ON I-SEARCH! Must have intro, thesis, and first body paragraph of outline done by Tuesday night! The Good News: We play Carolina this week and they are awful.

A thesis statement…  is usually a single sentence at the end of your first paragraph that presents your argument to the reader. The body of your paper should provide evidence to support the argument that your thesis proposes.  is a road map for the paper. It tells your reader what you will be arguing in the body of the paper.  makes a specific claim that others might dispute.  may change as you work on the body of your paper. Revise if necessary!

Topic  Question  Thesis  TOPIC: Open Campuses  QUESTION: Should more schools institute open campus policies?  THESIS: Open campuses offer a sense of freedom and responsibility to students, but the advantages are minimal when excessive tardiness, problems caused at local stores and restaurants, and the inability of the administration to keep track of all students are taken into consideration.

Is Your Thesis Strong?  Are you addressing the prompt?  Have you taken a stance that others may challenge?  Have you made sure that your thesis statement is NOT vague?  Does your body support your thesis?  Many engaging thesis statements contain words like because, since, so, although, unless, which, and however.

Examples  An open campus policy presents both positive and negative results for high schools that adopt it. WEAK. This example does not take a firm stance on the issue. It is neither for nor against an open campus policy. It is also vague because it points out that there are positive and negative results, but does not name them specifically.  The negative results that come when a high school adopts an open campus policy often outweigh the benefits. BETTER. This thesis takes a stance against open campuses, but is still vague and needs to be more specific.  Open campuses offer a sense of freedom and responsibility to students, but the advantages are minimal when excessive tardiness, problems caused at local stores and restaurants, and the inability of the administration to keep track of all students are taken into consideration. GOOD. A firm stance against open campuses is taken in this example. Also, this thesis specifically identifies the argument points that will be addressed in the body of the work.

Questions to Consider [Person]  What role did adversity play in your person’s life? Did the adversity they faced make them work harder to achieve what they did? Does the adversity they faced make their accomplishments more impressive? Is there a lesson people can learn from the way your person handled their adversity?

Questions to Consider [Event]  What adversity did people involved with your event face? What can be learned? Is the adversity faced in this situation something that more people should know about? Is there a lesson people can learn from your event? Should something be done to avoid something like it from happening again?

Starting Your Outline